


Born in fire, withered to ash

by WhiteBeakedRaven



Series: of freedom and chains [4]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Administrator Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt, Hurt Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Medical Procedures, Panic Attacks, Partial Mind Control, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Touch-Starved, Touch-Starved Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29720226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteBeakedRaven/pseuds/WhiteBeakedRaven
Summary: The Nether isn't a welcoming place, especially with the experiences Dream has had.But he manages.While on the hunt for some blaze rods, another run in forces our resident dead man to make some rather hard decisions that may have lasting consequences, but not only for him.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: of freedom and chains [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2171616
Comments: 23
Kudos: 348





	Born in fire, withered to ash

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, here is part four.  
> I take it you know the drill by now.
> 
> Thanks a whole lot for all the support and all the nice comments, as well as a special thank you at izzine on ao3/ @isasmsmrts on Tumblr, for keeping me going!
> 
> Enjoy!

A silent tapping filled the cavern.

Tap, tap, tap…

Rhythmically and unbroken.

Tap, tap…

It soothed the maker with every hit of his trembling fingers on the white mask he was wearing. It distracted him from the burning heat surrounding him. It grounded him in the moment in the absence of water.

Tap…

A silent tapping echoed in the red cavern of netherrack and brought the green clad man back into this world, away from dark memories filled with dripping and ticking. The rhythm soothed his racing heart and slowly but surely brought his breathing back to normal.

The tapping stopped.

Dream let out a big huff, breath leaving him unhindered. His black facemask had been pulled down in a panic at the start of his attack, the other white oval mask pushed to the side of his face in an effort to get air into his then panicking body.

He was feeling drained and this time it wasn’t only the natural sluggishness caused by the overwhelming heat of the Nether or the missing rest that seemed so far out of reach for him.

His panicked scrambling, to get away from the natural dangers of this hellhole, while his vision had been swimming and his lungs had been burning, probably was one part of his exhaustion.

The other was certainly the attack itself.

It hadn’t been nice.

Dream looked at his hands. The palms and fingers were red, with faint blisters already developing on them, from touching the heated stone for too long. Bright red netherrack clung under his fingernails, from where he had opened up and closed his little cavern. Faint sparkles of glowstone could also be seen, traces of when he had placed his only light source in this safe space.

Further down, bleeding red nail marks raked across his wrists and down until his bare forearm, crimson dripping at a languid pace, only to be absorbed and evaporated on contact with the ground.

This time the episode had lasted longer, nothing to really snap him out of it, once he had buried himself. He had been in so deep that he had removed his golden boots and also clawed at his ankles, desperately trying to remove something that just wasn’t there. Red tracks now also covered the old pale bracelet-like scars there.

Another deep sigh left Dreams still faintly aching lungs, as he slumped against the crimson wall he was sitting against. The hot soft surface of the netherrack burned faintly against his diamond covered back and legs, stinging more intensely at his still sore bare feet.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, despite having remained semi-conscious throughout the whole thing. His body really just hadn’t wanted to give him the luxury of finally going fully unconscious.

Whatever.

Dream took further stock of himself. He still felt jittery and weak, but he didn’t seem to have caused himself any further wounds, even while stumbling through a big part of a Nether Wastes biome half blind in panic. His gold boots had probably helped with that.

His mouth was dry and his throat hurt, if only from the heat and dehydration normal in this fiery hellhole or because he had been talking and screaming, he didn’t know. He couldn’t really remember. The faint taste of iron was on his tongue from overly chapped lips and the teared rips he had in them, that sent faint twitches of pain whenever he moved his mouth.

While experimentally moving the bottom half of his face, he became aware of the stiff feeling from two evaporated tear tracks on his cheeks. He felt the crusty leftover salt under his backhand when he tried to wipe the feeling away. Dream couldn’t remember crying.

So, all in all he was a bit of a mess.

But he was back to being functional and that was what was important. Hopefully that would remain so for the rest of his trip. He still needed to find a Nether Fortress and get a blaze rod.

Next steps clear in mind, Dream took out some bandages he had prepared in case of emergencies and wrapped them around his ankles and wrists, covering the small wounds there. No need to waste one of his precious golden apples on something so small. He only had three of them.

He drank a bit from one of his water flasks and ate a few small strips of dried meat, intent on getting some energy back. After finishing, he put everything back in his inventory and his small hip satchel.

The black facemask was pulled back up over his nose and the white smiley mask put back in front of his face.

He needed all the protection he could get against the smell of smoke.

With another deep breath he took out his pickaxe, mining the soft netherrack with claw marks in it, to step back into the unforgiving Nether, not forgetting to collect the glowstone on his way out.

\-----

He found a Fortress.

It took him only another three hours of stumbling through the hellish wastes, but he found one. One that was far enough away from spawnpoint, that certainly no other members of his world had found it yet.

But that was where the good news ended.

It was located in a Soul Sand Valley.

When Dream spotted it from one of the basalt pillars he had been jumping on, he groaned in frustration.

“Of course it has to be here of all places”, he mumbled angrily, while leaping from one pillar to another, slowly making his way down. He kept a careful eye out for any magma cubes or sudden lava pits, a potion of fire resistance handily ready in his inventory from one of his piglin trades. Luckily, he didn’t need it.

He made it into the annoying biome and to the foot of one of the first pillars of nether bricks without any incident, breathing slightly faster through his masks thanks to the workout. At least his body was getting the practice it so dearly needed, sweat pooling in his clothes and bandages.

Now, Dream had to make a decision.

Either he was going to mark his coords for later, leaving and returning when he was stronger and better equipped or he could risk it and try to grab a few blaze rods now, with his still weakened body and only two buckets of milk in case of wither skeletons. Which there were certainly going to be a lot around from, seeing as the structure was placed in the perfect biome for them to spawn.

If he went back it would probably take him about five hours in total, to get to his portal, even if he went the fastest way possible. That meant five hours of the smell of smoke, continuous heat, the bubbling and sight of lava. A trip that he wouldn’t have to make once, but thrice if he left empty handed.

Fifteen hours of being exposed to almost everything that could trigger another attack. His track record was four hours at its longest without one in this place.

Seeing as how his journey here went, Dream made his decision.

He took out his pickaxe and began mining a staircase up into the pillar of blackened bricks, intent on shortening his suffering for the future.

\-----

Dream hated Fortresses in this biome. It was official. He really hated them.

His conclusion was cemented once again, when another wither skeleton ran around the corner ahead of him, oozing the scent of decay. Dream left the pile of ashen bones back where he had slayed the last one, stepping forward shield and diamond axe in hand, determined to give this mob the same fate.

He really hated them, he thought, as a scratch of a large stone sword on his arm let him experience the black tendrils of pain, caused by the wither effect. He gritted his teeth against the feeling of his cells dying slowly, screaming out in torment the entire way until their eventual demise.

Despite the burning cold of his partially decaying flesh, Dream finished his downwards swing, adding another heap of black bones to the tens he had already created on his way to the spawners.

There better be plenty of blazes for him to kill when he got there.

He munched on one of his three golden apples, to finally fix all the wriggling dark spots of dead tissue his body sported and stepped further into the dangerous structure. The relieving sense of regeneration from the gapple rejuvenating his battered body.

He was intent on pulling this through.

\-----

There were a bunch of blazes when he finally found them.

On his way there he lost count of how many skeletons, both normal and wither, he killed or avoided. He had to drink one of his milk buckets in between, in a moment when he was confronted by three wither skeletons and a normal one, where he hadn’t been fast enough to dodge and got withered four times in the span of half a minute.

Now he had only one bucket left.

Luckily his path had also led him through the treasure section of the Fortress, giving him the opportunity to stock up on some goodies.

He had gladly collected the gold and diamonds, as well as the iron horse armor and saddle he found. Furthermore, he had taken some of his time to gather a few pieces of nether wart for future brewing endeavors. The three obsidian he had found in one of the chests he let be with a shiver up his spine, explaining it in his mind as having not enough inventory space to lug them around.

All to finally end up at a spawner and to jump into the fray of burning floating bodies and fast flying fireballs.

The blazes didn’t stand a chance.

Experience and a slight frustration guided Dreams hits, blocking at the opportune time to avoid getting set on fire and killing one after the other. Blaze after blaze died in a crackling groan, disappearing into the ash they came from and leaving only some of their precious rods behind.

After making quick work of the fourth batch, Dream decided he had enough.

His nerves were alight with tension after the encounters, the hissing and crackling of flames was slowly but surely making something heavy settle in his stomach. Checking his inventory he had eleven rods in total, enough to last him for a while.

So he dipped.

On his way back through the Fortress, he decided to try a stealthier route as his entrance, muffling his steps expertly despite the golden boots he was wearing and sneaking with caution through the treasure section again. He kept a careful eye and ear out for anything telling.

Which was the only reason he heard the steps on nether bricks, together with the distinct clanging sound of netherite armor.

Dream froze.

Someone else was in his Nether Fortress. Someone of his SMP was here. Someone who might discover him.

The footsteps came closer, taking apparently the exact path Dream had cleared beforehand. And he couldn’t go back. He had blocked off the way behind him, after seeing a group of seven or eight skeletons patrolling around there. Which certainly had been a smart decision, seeing as he heard the distinct clacking of bones also coming closer from there.

Dream was trapped.

Thinking fast, the steps ever approaching, he decided to screw stealth. Taking out his pickaxe he quickly approached one of the fenced off windows, mining through it as fast as possible. The cracking of diamond on nether brick was loud in the covered hallways.

The steps became faster. He definitely had been heard.

The first fence was broken, Dream picking it up and putting it in his inventory slot, while mining at the next one as fast as possible. The clacking of bones also got louder from the other side and higher in count.

Desperation pounded in sync with Dreams heart, as he broke the second fence. He slipped through the opening to the outside, being met with a steep drop down into a big lava lake below. The Admin whipped his head around, looking for outcroppings nearby and finding none. He was stuck.

The footfalls of the SMP member had turned into running, a loud: “Hello?”, suddenly echoing through the covered pathway.

The scar close to his heart ached.

Dream recognised that voice instantly. How couldn’t he.

The person had been like a brother to him, until even he had left the Admin alone in his misery. Until he had stepped forward against him. Until he had run him through with his enchanted blade, seemingly taking Dreams last life.

Sapnaps voice called out again: “Hello? Who is there?”

Why did it have to be Sapnap of all people?

Dreams heart quickened its pace further. Oh, how he just wanted to see his former best friend again. But he would probably be run through with a sword again or worse, captured and bound to be shipped off to the prison, before he could hug what was once one of his closest companions. Before he could even say a proper word. Before he could get one glimpse at his face.

No, Dream had to stay away. Stay alone.

Sadness teared through Dreams body, as he placed the mined fences back, closing off his just made path. He took the precious fire resistance potion out of his inventory, lifting and shifting his masks, so that he could chug the glowing liquid back as fast as possible, the grief clogging his throat making it harder.

The taste burned on his tongue.

“Why won’t you answer!”, the arsonist's voice called out, even louder than before. Concern suddenly coloured his words: “Are you injured? Do you need help?”

_More than you ever realized._

The running footfalls were almost around the corner. Just a few steps more. Just a few more.

The cooling feeling of fire resistance spread throughout Dreams limbs and body. He stashed the empty bottle in his inventory and took a deep breath through his replaced masks. The smell of smoke taunted him.

He stepped forward into nothingness, letting his body be tipped by gravity and rapidly approaching the bubbling mass of molten stone.

Dream closed his eyes before he was welcomed into the embrace of the blinding brightness.

The impact was heavy after such a long drop, driving the breath out of his lungs. Maybe bruising a few of his ribs for future pleasure. Warmth enveloped him without burning him.

It was wrong. This was wrong.

Any second now the searing pain should come. Any second now he should feel his flesh being molten from his bones. Any second now he should be in familiar agony. Any second now…

It didn’t come. He didn’t feel it. He wasn’t.

Dream took a shuddering breath under the surface of the lava, the potion allowing him to breathe.

Still he didn’t feel any pain.

Only the warmth he had seeked so often when had stepped into the embrace of melted stone. That he had so desperately craved for, for the icy lonely core in his burning body. That he had willingly suffered for, to feel that split second of heat.

This just felt nice on his suddenly much cooler body. Nothing else.

Dream took another deep breath, opening his eyes and seeing only orange, yellow and red. He pushed his smiley mask to the side, the enchantments to see through it not helping here. Now he could see faint traces of the land around him.

The Admin let himself slowly sink to the bottom of the lava lake, thinking about what to do next.

Sapnap being on top was a problem. The Nether Fortress was high enough that he could potentially see Dreams figure even if he was chunks away. Staying in the lava also wasn’t an option, Dream being all too aware of the slow ebb of the protection magic.

But he still had time.

That’s why, while sitting at the bottom of a fiery lava lake, the Admin closed his eyes again and reached out, calling to what was his.

His world answered.

He let his senses take him to the Nether Fortress above him, seeing and feeling all that was around his spectral perception. Without actually being there in body, Dream entered the covered pathway through a wall again, now seeing inside of where he had been just moments before.

The Nether brick passageway was empty. No sight of Sapnap nearby.

However, Dreams otherworldly ears heard the bonking of stone on wood, coupled with the rattling of bones and pained grunts.

The Admin let his sight be guided into the direction it came from, his world answering his call readily. He blinked and next he was in another pathway he had come along, a broken through barrier of blocks marking it clearly in his memory.

The sounds of fighting were louder.

The scrape of stone on netherite let Dream focus on the corner it came from.

Shock made his spectral sight freeze up and blur, his concentration slightly hindered. He scrambled to get the connection stable again, fear flowing through him for his former friend.

Sapnap was cornered by all that Dream had avoided. A true mob of black skeletons had swarmed him, pounding on his shield and injuring any available open skin, darkening it with their decay.

The ravenette was doing his best in fending them off and fighting back, but the slow withering of his once healthy body and the fact that for every skeleton he killed, another took its place, showed how screwed he really was.

Despite that he gritted his teeth through the pain and apparent fear, blocking and stabbing to the best of his abilities. A fire flickering in his eyes in pure defiance. He wouldn’t let himself fall before he had given it his all.

It was admirable. And foolish.

Dream knew he was only prolonging his suffering. Sapnap still had lives to spare, so giving up now wouldn’t mean the end for him, even if the world decided that this was one of his canon lives. Although the Admin would probably interfere if that were the case.

But instead he still fought on.

Taking wither after wither, attracting more from other parts of the fortress, only to take the places of the ones he had felled. A few normal skeletons were also attracted to the commotion, as well as a stray blaze.

The situation was hopeless, and he still fought on, something like desperation in his black and orange sectoral eyes.

And Dream finally understood why, when Sapnap called out: “Hold on! I’m coming to help!”, only to grunt in pain when a stone sword clanged powerfully against the side of his chestplate.

The self-sacrificial fool thought someone was still in the Fortress. He wanted to help the unknown person. He wanted to help Dream.

But only because he didn’t know who it was.

Because he thinks it’s one of his friends.

Despite that, the thought still tingled something in the blond’s heart. Something he thought was irreparably broken.

Only to have that part of his heart skip a beat as a wither skeleton swung past Sapnaps shield and clipped him with a mighty blow against his head. The ravenette crumbled like his strings had been cut. Expressive eyes closing suddenly into unconsciousness.

The mass of mobs moved in for the kill, intent on ripping the younger to shreds.

Intend on slaughtering him like a pig.

Intend on spilling the invaders blood on the bricks of their home.

Intend on ending him.

**_NO!_ **

Everything froze, as the Admins will roared through his world. A powerful force ground any resistance into dust, as the mind of every mob close to the arsonist was taken over. They stilled in the moment, moving not a single limb. They couldn’t, for there was no way to.

**LEAVE!**

The command was projected into all their heads at once. They had to obey. They couldn’t not obey. They were but a plaything, a puppet, of the world and its master. And the master had spoken.

Slowly but surely, with stiff limbs and jerky rattles, the horde of nightmarish creatures left their supposed prey. Forced to give up their prize by something so much more powerful than them. Something that blanketed their minds with the energy of their hellish home, controlling them with what they were but a small part of.

The countless steps grew quieter and quieter. The broken rattles and the muted cracklings of fire disappearing.

Leaving only the small pained gasps of the bloodied and blackened ravenette.

The Admin should have left it at that.

He should have let his former best friend succumb to the slow decay eating at his body. To let him die, not teared into pieces, but withered away. Allowing him to be sent back home through the void, back to where Dream wasn’t welcome anymore, respawning at the bed he had last lain in.

Probably into the awaiting arms of his friends.

Of George and Bad, who would tease him for his death, but try to soothe the phantom pains leftover from the respawn anyway. He would probably receive some L’s and comments from the rest of the SMP through the world chat, only to laugh as well when the next person died an embarrassing death.

Just another normal day on his world.

A death here wouldn’t be anything meaningful, just another one in a long list of mishaps that they could make fun off as a collective.

That they could joke about together.

Enjoy, together.

As a group.

So yeah, Dream should have left it at that. It would have been the smartest thing to do. The most logical. Something he would have done in the months before the prison without a second thought. That the old him would have ignored with only the slightest twinge in his heart. That the him now was hesitating to do, feelings muddled and uncertain.

The decision was made for him, when a certain something reached his spectral ears. A quiet noise, amids the labored breathing of the dying man.

A small pained whimper sounded from the corner. It echoed inside Dream's mind. It was clear what it was.

An unconscious plea of help. Uttered without thought because of the agony. Because of the torture the younger was going through.

That he was going through, alone.

His kin, in all but blood.

His brother.

Logic went out the window, as long-honed instincts took over.

The only thing that mattered was helping Sapnap. Was helping his friend. His best friend. As fast as possible.

The sudden teleport was fueled by the sheer need to come to the aid of one of the people that meant everything to him. Whom he would do almost anything for. Whom he would openly kill for. Whom he would gladly destroy for. Whom he would hurt anything for, just to keep them safe.

Himself included, despite them not returning the courtesy.

Despite never returning the intent.

Dream didn’t care.

He didn’t.

He didn’t!

_He did…_

_He did, oh so much…_

Abruptly the blond wasn’t in the depths of a burning lake but standing where his mental projection into the world had been and watched. A few patches of lava had also made the journey with him, clinging to his clothes and form, but he didn’t care.

He only had eyes for Sapnap.

The Admin sprinted over the black bricks to his side, all the while keeping every single mob in their vicinity at bay. He felt his mind straining under the task, but he could endure. The admin magic blanketing his vicinity powered by the energy of these hellish lands teared at his already limited supply, however he could tolerate it.

And he would. Gladly even.

Dream fell to his knees by the ravenette’s side, lifting his head onto his lap and removing the netherite helmet in his way. The younger was covered in a cold sweat, despite the heat of the Nether enveloping them. Black tendrils creeping along almost all visible skin, the wither effect burrowing its way into his flesh, intend on withering him slowly but surely to his bones and then into nothing.

Just above the usually white bandana, that had certainly seen better days with how dirty and sweat soaked it was, a steady stream of crimson trickled out of the wound that had sent him into unconsciousness.

It was weird touching someone again, after so long.

A shiver went through Dream's still cold body, the effect of the potion having not yet run out, with every skin to skin contact he had while checking his friend over. There was a faint warmth developing in his frozen core, the longer he felt soft skin under his trembling fingertips. He had forgotten that feeling. It felt nice.

But he couldn’t concentrate on that.

Summoning his last bucket of milk, Dream propped the younger up, shaking him slightly.

“Sapnap! Sapnap!”, the blond called.

He got a whimpering groan in answer.

So, he wasn’t completely out yet. Good. Dream hoped he was coherent enough for what he was about to do.

“Please don’t choke”, he whispered pleadingly.

Then he opened his friends’ mouth with one hand, while he set the metal rim of the bucket to his lips with the other. Dream was almost hugging his friend in this position, Sapnaps back to his chest. In a slow controlled movement, he tipped the milk into the arsonist's mouth.

A spasm went through the younger's body, a choked off cough trying to escape, milk spilling back out. Then an audible gulp was heard, followed by another, faster.

He was drinking it.

Whatever consciousness remained slowly but surely drained the bucket, Dream intermittently tilting it back to let him breathe, only to continue shortly after. He let the empty metal bucket vanish back into his inventory, where it joined his other unfilled companion.

Dream let out a sigh, an underlying tension escaping his form. The heavy weight of his armoured friend pressing in on his lap and chest. His skin tingling warmly at any point of contact.

He could see the milk slowly kicking in. The blackened tendrils of decay stopped their creeping advance and even retreated a bit. Still, a lot of blackened spots remained, needing time and maybe a bit of magic to turn back into healthy tissue.

Next, Dream took out one of his remaining clean bandages, his sight set on the still profusely bleeding headwound. He needed something else to sponge up the blood but looking through his inventory he found nothing suitable of the kind.

Maybe he would just take a second rolled up bandage as a wound cover…

A sudden sound of triumph echoed in the otherwise empty dark passageway. The blond took out a patch of moss that he had had just lying around in his hip satchel. The dried out green plant would do nicely.

Wrapping the plant patch in some cloth from his bandages, to avoid small bits of greenery getting directly into the open flesh, he pressed it against the headwound. Another pained whimper left Sapnaps lips, causing Dreams heart to ache in sympathy.

“Shh, shh, it's alright”, he spoke soothingly, voice a whisper. “I’m just taking care of this and then we can get out of here.”

And getting out of here they needed to.

The Admin felt his oppressing presence on the mobs around him slowly fade, as with every beat of his heart his reserves were drained more. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer. Already he could hear some of the mobs shifting their bones, despite his restrictions still keeping them locked in place away from him and his friend. At least they hadn’t been able to take a step closer yet.

That’s why Dream hastily wrapped his bandages around the ravenette’s head, securing his improvised patch on top of the wound, to soak up the gushing blood and hopefully stopping its flow. The motions were long since familiar, fights and scrapes being the norm of his life, having taken care of his own wounds often enough.

The almost pristine bandages looked weird on top of Sapnaps normal headband, the piece of cloth having been dirtied to an ashy grey and sometimes sooty black by the trip through the Nether beforehand, creating a contrast that just looked wrong.

Quickly checking over Sapnaps other wounds, who were mostly just small scrapes, marginally worsened in quality through the wither effect that had been stopped through the milk, Dream deemed him good enough for now.

He stored the others' helmet in his inventory.

The taller got up slowly, keeping a grip on the smaller one's body and moving around him to the front. He crouched down with his back pointing to him, taking Sapnaps arms and awkwardly pulling him on his back over his shoulders.

It took a bit of tugging and adjusting, until Dream had Sapnap on his back, gripping under the others thighs while standing up, to give him a somewhat stable piggyback ride.

The blond huffed in exertion, limbs trembling under the weight of his armored friend and the effort of keeping the mobs at bay. His first few steps were small and unsteady, until he slowly adjusted to the straining exercise and finally picked up speed. They had to get our of here.

Slow rattling footsteps were hearable behind him, as the mobs out of his shrinking sphere of influence came back to their senses, confusion palpable in their actions. As long as the Admin didn’t draw attention to himself again, they would probably leave him alone, not remembering what had happened. At least he hoped so.

Dream panted into the hot air, his black facemask filtering the smell of smoke somewhat, white oval mask still pushed to the side. He didn’t have the hand free to adjust it.

They made their ground back quickly, the path to where Dream had originally entered the Fortress still being somewhat clear, his jogging pace eating up the distance. And if he heard footsteps or the crackling of flames in the pathways branching off, they stilled as soon as Dream came close to them, the will of his world pressing down on the approaching mobs.

Within minutes he reached the staircase he had mined beforehand, thankful to his past self for deciding to enter this way. It made getting down with the dead weight on his back so much easier, than if he had towered up as per usual.

Sapnap was mostly silent, limp on Dreams back, sometimes shuddering his breath a bit when Dream was too fast in his descent, causing him to be knocked into the tallers shoulders. He always apologized quietly under his breath and tried to even his pace. Not that the younger noticed.

They reached the Soul Sand Valley without further incident.

Dream immediately went for the Basalt Delta close by, not intending to stay in the biome where he could be sniped from afar, while he was slowed down by soul sand. He had had enough of arrows for a little while after his experience the other day.

As soon as he reached the spires of grey basalt, ash raining from the sky and clinging to his form, he set down his unconscious friend carefully. Arranging him somewhat comfortably against a wall of blackstone.

Taking out his pickaxe and mining a small cavern quickly and efficiently, had almost become second nature by now. As soon as it was comfortably big enough to fit two people, he placed one of his glowstones inside, lighting it up.

Then he dragged Sapnap inside, too drained to pick him up again.

He closed off the opening and finally let go of his magic. The sudden difference made him almost collapse, core almost drained of everything and no steady flow from outside to keep him going.

It always took a bit of his own energy to direct and use the innate power of his lands, which did the brunt of his work. So the largest parts of his magics didn't come from him, but his lands. And sometimes he didn’t notice himself running out, supported as he was from the stream around him. Cutting the flow then, left him jittering and aching, a painful hole in his very being trying desperately to get any of the snatches of energy the world normally fed to him.

Being without or almost without magic, such a core part of his being, often reflected onto his physical state as well. Capable of not only causing excruciating pain, but fevers, nosebleeds, headaches, nausea and a lot of other very fun stuff.

Luckily it wasn’t that bad this time, he still had some juice left in him. The headache forming in his head coupled with the taste of iron on his tongue being easily ignorable. The slow simmering of power in his being kept it from becoming worse.

He was probably going to use it anyway.

Dream plopped himself down next to his injured friend, the heat of the blackstone on his back all the more palpable after the cool of the fire resistance potion, that had long since run out. Sapnap was still out cold, something Dream couldn’t allow if he wanted to leave.

Being unconscious in this environment could be a death sentence, even in a seemingly safe cavern such as this. Everything could go wrong, like ghast explosions or sudden collapses and Dream didn’t just go through all that trouble, only to feel his friend’s death through the connection to his world.

He still hadn’t managed to secure himself a communicator again.

So, the last step was healing the arsonist until he could become conscious again and defend himself, without seeing who had healed him.

Easy, right?

Dream took out his second last gapple for this.

The glimmering golden fruit shined in the palm of his hand, letting faint traces of power seep into it, unnoticeable to anyone else. He was at a crossroads. Either he could take the easy way or the hard way.

Sapnap was the one to decide.

“Pandas, Pandas! Wake up!”, Dream shout-whispered into the arsonist's ear, shaking him hard by his shoulder.

He only got a quiet groan as an answer, the arsonist still deeply stuck in his unconsciousness.

The hard way it was.

Knowing that he probably would have to dip quickly, Dream took out Sapnaps netherite helmet, placing it next to his body. He quickly checked if there was anything else he had forgotten, not noticing anything immediately apparent.

He definitely wouldn’t enjoy what came next.

Taking a deep breath, the Admin bit into the golden fruit, feeling the effects of regeneration wash over him. He stopped it from reaching his own wounds, blocking it even from his pounding headache. Quickly eating the whole thing, gripping the innate magic of the gapple with his own, while ignoring the buzzing that had started in his ears.

Dropping the apple core to the ground, Dream turned himself fully to his friend, cupping Sapnaps slack face in the palm of his hands. The warmth of the others skin bringing some small amount of comfort to him.

The regeneration buzzed under his skin, intent on doing its work in the body that had eaten the fruit, but being stopped by another power. The same power, that was forcefully redirecting it into the injured frame in front of the Admin.

It didn’t like that, bucking and trying to heal the body it was supposed to heal, only to be shoved with an iron grip of admin magic into the wounds of the other, to release its effects there.

It didn’t yet start its regeneration, some kind of confusion evident in the non-sentient magic. Despite the hesitation it had, another pulse of Dreams magic overrode its inhibition, finally getting it to work in the younger's body. Slowly healing and regenerating what was amiss.

The buzzing and dizziness grew in intensity, the pounding of Dreams head rapping up as well. Blood soaked the front of his black mask, spreading a bit around his nose, only to be dried up by the surrounding heat. Why did it always have to be the nosebleeds...

Still the Admin redirected the magic, taking all the scraps of himself he had left, to get it to work, focusing a big part of the regeneration effect into the headwound of the smaller.

Dark spots started flashing in Dreams periphery, as the scent of blood and smoke became overwhelming to him.

The effect ran out, having taken all that was left in Dream with it. But it had done its job.

It had been enough.

A loud groan went through the cavern, originating from the arsonist. His limbs twitched sporadically, as his eyelids began to flicker open. He was met with a confusing scene.

He saw walls and ceilings of a carved cavern of blackstone, lit up by a block of glowstone. A few netherrack, out of place in the surrounding dark blocks, seemingly marked the closed off entrance into this small unnatural cave.

It took a bit in his slowed mind to register the helmet next to him, as well as the glimmering apple core. He however didn’t have the metallic bittersweet of the fruit on his tongue, but only the silky taste of fresh milk. Sapnap smacked his lips in confusion, checking around him again.

He was alone.

\-----

Not even two chunks further, a green man laid shivering with his face in a puddle of dried blood, more being added by the continuous amounts gushing out of his nose and sometimes mouth. His masks had both either been removed from his head, a white oval laying a block or two away from his twitching body, or pulled down, functioning as a scarf for his already overheating body. A fever having overtaken it in a storm.

A splitting headache coupled with an extreme dizziness forced him to keep his eyes closed, wary of any and all light in his two by two closed off hole. Wary of the pain intensifying.

The drumming of his beating heart wasn’t enough to keep the bubbling of close-by lava from his ears, as the smell of smoke entered him even through the blood filling his nose. Tickling at unwelcome past memories.

The darkness seemed to choke him, the walls and floor he couldn’t see but feel closing in, restraining him. Gravity seemed to press down on his too weak, too slow body. His arms and legs heavy with the faint rattling of phantom cuffs.

Gasping too fast, choked sometimes by the gushing blood, he spit out dry breath after dry breath, getting seemingly no air back into his aching lungs. Strangling him in an ever increasing cycle of desperate panting.

He was stuck.

He was helpless.

He couldn’t escape.

And still, under all of it, under the gasping and bubbling, the heat and the pain, he could faintly hear the rhythmic ticking of long burned clocks.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Tell me your thoughts and feelings down below, it really brightens my day!  
> Constructive criticism is very welcome as well.
> 
> The next part might take a bit, but I can tell you guys we are gonna switch things up for certain...
> 
> Have a nice day/night and stay happy and healthy!


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